The Monthly Magazine of the British Printing Society
Small Printer
ISSN 0037 7236 June 2016 Vol.52 No.6 HI S T P I R I N T I N GB R S O
C I E
T Y
Executive Offi cers
President: Jean Watson
19 Hillbrow Road, Bournemouth, BH6 5NT 01202 429642
president@bpsnet.org.uk
Vice President: Bob Edwards
Chelston House, The Street, Crookham Village, Fleet, GU51 5SH
01252 615439
vicepresident@bpsnet.org.uk
Secretary: Peter Salisbury
4 Doran Drive, Redhill, RH1 6AX 01737 761861
secretary@bpsnet.org.uk
Treasurer: Robin Munday
Printers Patch, Dyke Hill, South Chard, TA20 2PY 01460 220819
treasurer@bpsnet.org.uk
Councillor: Paul Hatcher
01189 666124
P.H.councillor@bpsnet.org.uk
Councillor: Ron Rookes
01245 611484
R.R.councillor@bpsnet.org.uk
Councillor: Ron Watson
01202 429642
R.W.councillor@bpsnet.org.uk
PG Councillor: Margaret Rookes
01245 611484
pgcouncillor@bpsnet.org.uk
Copy Deadline
Copy must reach the Editor by 6.00pm on the 13th of the previous month.
Bundle Items
Members’ non commercial Bundle Items are inserted free of charge. 350 copies should be sent to the Mailer by the 25th of the previous month. Maximum size A5 or folded to same.
www.bpsnet.org.uk
Non-Executive Offi cers
Editor: Chris Green
Noddyshall, Rockshaw Road, Merstham, Redhill, RH1 3DB
01737 644145 editor@bpsnet.org.uk
SP Design: Ron Rookes
01245 611484
spdesign@bpsnet.org.uk
Membership: Margaret Rookes
57 Craiston Way, Chelmsford, CM2 8ED 01245 611484
membership@bpsnet.org.uk
Mailer: Ron Rookes
57 Craiston Way, Chelmsford, CM2 8ED 01245 611484
mailer@bpsnet.org.uk
Sales: Terry Shapland
Acorn Cottage, 28 Oak Street, Feltwell, Thetford, IP26 4DD
sales@bpsnet.org.uk
Advertising: Ron Watson
19 Hillbrow Road, Bournemouth, BH6 5NT 01202 429642
adverts@bpsnet.org.uk
Web Master: Ron Rookes
01245 611484
webmaster@bpsnet.org.uk
Enquiries: John Easson
01828 628001
enquiries@bpsnet.org.uk
Librarian: Libby Green
01737 644145 library@bpsnet.org.uk
PG Chairman: Rachel Marsh
01409 281326 pgchair@bpsnet.org.uk
PG Mailer: Ron Rookes
01245 611484
pgmailer@bpsnet.org.uk
| From The Editor | |
Chris Green (7614)|
T
his issue of Small Printer is unashamedly a ‘Convention’issue.
I have been told that this may be thought unfair by those who weren’t able to get to Bristol for our weekend in April. If this is your view, then I should like to reassure you that this is most certainly not the intention.
For as long as I can remember, the Annual Convention has been celebrated in words and pictures in the magazine; and this is for two reasons. First, to act as a record of what took place. If you consult the Society Rules, you will see that there is no requirement to hold a Convention or, indeed, any kind of social gathering. What is required, though, is an Annual General Meeting and for the past many years the weekend has been built around this.
The second reason for this
‘Convention’ issue is to allow some of the participants to convey their pleasure – or in a few cases, displeasure – at the events that took place. In previous years one member was asked to provide a report: in the pages following you will read reports from a dozen or more members, each with their own particular ‘take’ on the weekend.
When I again took on the mantle of Editor, with the January issue, I warned that I should be annoyingly persistent in asking for material to ll the pages. You will have noticed (you do read this editorial each month, don’t you?) that I have held back
from outright pleading for several months. I have, however, made a couple of suggestions: you could make a special e ort during your birthday month to write something for the magazine; or you could write about how you discovered the Society and what made you complete an Application Form. I have not received a single response to either of these suggestions, so I am reduced to a direct request: please write a short article (on whatever you choose) for these pages. It is your Society – your magazine – and your contributions that make it possible.
Cover Illustration: Linocut by Mike Elliston. See article on page 136.
Convention Keepsake by Brian Foster (10723). Look out for a review of the Keepsakes and other Convention Printing by John Easson in the July issue.
to the shop on Monday and pack up all stock for transit to Twickenham. I am afraid that I have no alternative to this arrangement and will be in touch with you on Monday morning.
Yours truly, Donald.”
War was declared on Sunday 3rd September, 1939, and Adana ceased trading the next day.
In the summer of 1950 Fred Ayers, the
A
dana opened their rst shop at 52 High Holborn in April 1928, and the company has maintained a presence in central London ever since – although all is not as it might appear. The lease on their Holborn building in 1928 was a short one: just six months, as the site was scheduled for redevelopment.Donald Aspinall, the founder of the company, wanted to ‘test the water’, and the success of his rst London retail
outlet prompted him to take the lease on No. 1 Ludgate House (at the bottom of Fleet Street) a year later. The company remained there until the day after war was announced. A letter sent to me recently by the daughter of the Fleet Street shop manager, Jack Alexander, reveals how the City business came to a sudden end. Aspinall gave his manager a sealed envelope on the 2nd September, 1939.
Inside was a handwritten letter:
“Dear Alexander,
In the event of war being declared I shall shut the Fleet Street depot immediately. If this should happen over the weekend I want you to go directly
owner of the post-war company, acquired the lease on a small shop at 8 Grays Inn Road. Although the sales area was small, the property had a capacious basement and large stocks were held of all the most popular lines. Another redevelopment forced the company out in 1980 and the shop relocated to a former hi- equipment showroom at 162 Grays Inn Road. The original Adana signage was transferred to the new site. As letterpress declined and the technology became commercially obsolete, sales fell and in 1987 the directors of Adana decided to dispose of the business. Roy Caslon acquired the company, but as the date for the transfer of assets approached, Adana sold their The Adana shops at 8 Grays Inn Road (1950 -1980) and No. 162 (since 1980).
to keep the café open. Adana may just bene t from this starry line-up, but hopes of a stay of execution are slim. Jon Snow of Channel Four News said “This is one of the last touchstones of true culinary community. Andrews is a truly eclectic mix, from TV to road sweeping, rich and poor mix easily.”
Part of the facade will be retained, but the three small shops will be demolished to provide a ve-story block of 13 luxury ats with some retail space. The developer, Dukelease, will incorporate a public entrance which will provide access to Mount Pleasant at the rear of the property. The new development will include a café but the rent is not expected to be a ordable to a small independent trader such as Erdogan Garip, owner of Andrews. It seems likely that a large chain such as Starbucks or Costa Co ee will take over the new lease.
As for Adana, Mr Pavel Shah, who is the current lessee of number 162, is remaining tight-lipped. The business seems almost certain to disappear by mid-summer. As for the famous Adana sign, there are a couple of options. If storage space permits, it might go to St Bride Library, or perhaps even return to the parent company in St Albans. It would be a great shame to see it dumped in a skip after 66 years.
Grays Inn Road shop to an independent trader and permitted him to use the Adana name and trademarks for his business without consulting Caslon – hardly a satisfactory arrangement for either company. The deal e ectively created two Adana companies, quite independent of each other, with the shop trading as Adana Graphic Supplies Ltd.
The continued presence of the Adana sign above number 162 Grays Inn Road has persuaded many passers-by that Adana (Printing Machines) Limited is still trading from the site. The real Adana company is headquartered in St Albans, and the Grays Inn Road shop, which has no legal connection with the Caslon company, trades as a gift and greetings card retail outlet, having also operated as a quick-print shop for several decades.
All that is now about to change, for the developers have moved in on Adana for a third time.
Number 162 Grays Inn Road is facing demolition and redevelopment. The adjacent property, including Andrews restaurant, a traditional ‘greasy spoon’
cafeteria, is facing closure after over 60 years of trading. The Adana signage has been displayed on Grays Inn Road for 66 years – even longer than Andrews has been there. That famous sign will soon disappear for good. Andrews have been told that they may face closure by the end of May, and the Adana shop is likely to close soon afterward.
A campaign has been launched by some very high pro le media folk, but their interest is less to do with Adana and more to do with their appetites for the best bacon rolls and pies in the area. ITN newsreaders Jon Snow, Tom Bradby, Alastair Stewart and Krishnan Guru-Murthy have dined at Andrews for many years and have signed the petition
126
Nick Hand and the Printing Bike John Easson visits the UWE stand
Bargain Hunting The Carpathian Press
| Bristol Convention 2016 - Collective Thoughts | For the rst time . . .
W
hen I received the Convention booking form I decided to just book for the Saturday. I don’t know many people in the Society and wasn’t sure if spending the whole weekend there was for me – I was wrong!Once booked, the ever-persuasive Bob Edwards emailed me with an offer I couldn’t refuse: a second table for free in return for a talk about lino-cutting. I’m a sucker for free stuff so I agreed straight away. I’m beginning to wonder if anyone ever refuses one of Bob’s offers . . .
We arrived at the Holiday Inn nice and early. Directions were really good in the Convention information and it was easy to unpack and set up. I was super-impressed with my goodie bag – it contained so much lovely stuff and I’m determined to provide something for next year’s.
It was such a good day – great to meet and talk to so many enthusiastic people. It was nice to see Angie Butler from UWE, whom I had met before at a printmaking conference;
and also Sarah Bodman, whom I had recently met at a Book Arts day. I suddenly realised that BPS is the missing link between my printmaking and my artists’ book-making world.
I was also thrilled to meet Andrew Dolinski (or mr_carpathian as I know him).
I had a lovely chat with John Easson, who has since sent me a beautiful poetry book set by him and illustrated with original linocuts by my hero Paul Peter Piech.
The day fl ew by and it was time to give my talk. I had a minor PowerPoint disaster, which the brilliant staff at the hotel sorted for me: but I think the talk went well. No one walked out or threw things, possibly because they were all too tired to move. At the end I gave a demonstration of printing a lino block on an Adana 8x5, and people stayed to print their own and to chat.
And then it was time to go. As I packed up they were laying the hall out for dinner and putting down a dance fl oor and I was really jealous I wasn’t staying for the evening.
Next year I will defi nitely be there for the whole weekend and I’m looking forward to it.
See you in Newport!
Katherine Anteney (10784)
From a ‘regular’ non-printer . . .
I
have been attending the annual Conventions since accompanying Colin to the Golden Jubilee Convention held in Bristol in 1994. Having missed two since then, I was surprised when I calculated this to be my 21st convention.This year I was impressed by the choice of hotel and the way the programme of events could all take place in a group of rooms separate from the main public areas. There was a constant supply of tea, coffee and snacks, including fresh cookies – wonderful! It was pleasing to see so many day visitors for the Saturday Trade Show and congratulations to those that ensured the event was well publicised locally. There was a real buzz about the place and so much enthusiasm shown by the traders and their customers. The members gladly share their expertise and genuinely fulfi l the brief of ‘a Society of Friends’. Printers and non-printers can fi nd something of interest in the trade stands, demonstrations and
talks given throughout the convention.
The banquet with guest speaker and annual awards presentation, followed by square dancing completed Saturday’s activities, although this year’s didn’t quite go to plan!
What brings me back each year is the renewing of friendships, chatting to people and enjoying a weekend away with my husband. Well done and thank you to the Maidenhead Branch and helpers for another memorable convention; and congratulations, too, to all the BPS members who attend and contribute each year to making them friendly and happy events.
Ros Angior (4219)
That Goody Bag . . .
A
s a member of the branch that organised this year’s convention, I took on the responsibility for the Goody Bags, partly because this seemed an easy job and partly because I had already done them a couple of times before for our two more recent Branch Open Days.The Goody Bag is one of those things that is given to visitors, containing items of possible interest, along with printed ephemera, useful items like a pen or pencil, a competition perhaps, and even a packet of biscuits! It’s something to take with you to your hotel room and possibly digest!
So we started out with a big paper bag, A4 size, which had to be printed – letterpress, of course! This was double the size I have been used to, and proved to be very diffi cult to print on my Harrild Treadle machine. Feeding them was a nightmare: the press ‘ate’
several of the bags.
Then we contacted everyone we could think of in an attempt to fi ll the bags with good contents. To my amazement and horror this was taken up with gusto, and there were at least two dozen items to put into each bag. Even after we had fi lled the bags, more stuff came, and at the convention itself there was even more stuff to put in them on the day!
Unusually, this year we gave out only one bag per couple, which meant that there were spare bags for all of the ‘day trippers’. With the benefi t of hindsight, these should have contained prospectuses for the BPS, as many of the day visitors were not BPS members:
but I am sure that, if any of these people liked what they saw, they will no doubt be getting in touch to join us.
Chris Daniells (5734)
Those talks . . .
T
he various talks arranged by the Convention organisers were, for me, the highlight of the weekend (don’t mention the banquet). All of the speakers had audio-visual aids to help with their presentations, from Microsoft Powerpoint to old-fashioned 35mm colour slides. Amazingly, the technology worked every time. I have memories of many previous speakers at Conventions, in years gone by, struggling to get a picture out of a recalcitrant laptop or trying to stop a 35mm carousel as it galloped three slides ahead of their text. Well done to the Holiday Inn, and the tech-savvy guests who were allconfi dent with their electronic kit. Angie Butler entertained us on Friday evening with a guided tour through the world of artist books. Half way through Angie’s talk, as an image of a book printed by Rachel Marsh (Semple Press) popped up on screen, there was a loud clatter as a late-comer, attempting to sneak in quietly, collided with a chair in semi- darkness. Rachel’s entrance was perfectly timed.
Bob Rchardson (9718)
Miniature Books (Stephen Byrne: Friday, 7.00 p.m.)
S
tephen Byrne gave an excellent talk on Miniature Books: ancient and modern, and on the Saturday he exhibited some of his collection most tastefully.Miniature books have been produced for thousands of years. Small tablets, less than an inch square, were made from wet mud, inscribed with a reed and baked in the sun. Miniature books are those less than three inches in all directions. The early ones were hand-written and, after printing from moveable type began, they were printed, sometimes in three-point type.
There are various categories of even smaller books – some are less than an inch square – and the smallest book in the world is less than a millimetre square.
Most miniature books have unbelievably attractive bindings and are a joy to behold.
Some were issued as a series with a delightful miniature bookcase to keep them in.
I think most of us have a soft spot for tiny things, and here was a whole new world opened up to us by Stephen’s fascinating talk and his lovely exhibition on the Saturday morning.
Roderic Findlay (10458)
Adanaland and Phantom Philately (Alan Brignull:
Friday, 9.00 p.m.)
A
lan Brignull, self-appointed Postmaster General of Adanaland, gave a most entertaining talk to about 40 potential customers about his postage stamps.He began with a brief explanation of the various types of ‘phantom’ stamps: these include forgeries, fakes, bogus and fantasies. As if that wasn’t already confusing, he went on to say that complications such as forgeries of bogus stamps, or fakes of forgeries, were also in existence.
The major part of his talk concerned his own productions. These included, but were not limited to, stamps from Adanaland, some of which were sent all over the world to collectors, who sometimes responded by sending philatelic material from their own empires. We learnt that Adanaland has a number of overseas territories, among them Adanapur (somewhere on the Indian sub-continent). This issue was produced after Alan obtained a quantity of Guajarati type for 99p on eBay and needed to fi nd a use for it.
Alan started this particular career in 1995 when he volunteered to print the cover for Small Printing. The theme for that year was ‘Collections’ – and, asking himself the question ‘what do people collect?’ he came up with ‘stamps’.
Many of his philatelic issues are produced using a Adana stock block as a basis, with
small linocuts used to colour the stamp. The lettering is always letterpress, and invariably the stamps are perforated. Sources of gummed paper are beginning to run dry and Alan is always on the lookout for stock. In answer to a question he made it clear that Adanaland stamps would never become self-adhesive.
Another questioner asked whether there were many phantom philatelic printers ‘out there’ – and apparently there are a surprisingly large number. Alan is fairly sure, though, that he is the only one to produce stamps entirely by letterpress – and long may he continue to do so.
Chris Green (7614)
A
lan Brignull’s tour of Adanaland left me wishing (yet again) that there were properties to buy in that peculiarly British Elysium, where people still charge accumulator batteries for their wireless sets, and pierrots prance on the pier.A trio of Alan’s Adanaland stamps in the Sussex Cup goody bags paid tribute to the various incarnations of the BPS all the way from the Amateur Printers’ Association via ISPA. One threepenny stamp reveals that the BPS received its current name at 6.00pm on 24th April 1965. This kind of precision is Mr Brignull’s forte, coupled with supreme technical skill and astounding creativity. He is also a very entertaining speaker. Although this talk was an updated version of one Alan has given before, it held the attention of the audience throughout and received enthusiastic applause.
Bob Rchardson (9718)
The Printing Bike Project (Nick Hand:
Saturday, 10.30 a.m.)
A
bout two years ago a Kickstarter funding project was put out on Twitter for a Printing Bike Project. As someone who enjoys both riding a bike and printing this gripped my imagination, so I put in a donation with the promise of some postcards in return. I was therefore delighted when I saw that Nick Hand, the originator of this project, was talking about it at the convention.Nick trained as a typographer, and is a keen cyclist; and after varied employment in the design and graphics world ended up setting up the Letterpress Co-operative in Bristol. By some fortuitous chance a unit near to his was taken by Robin Mather, a bespoke bicycle builder. This was a marriage of minds and over copious amounts of coffee the Printing Bike Project was conceived.
There is a tradition of trade bikes, such as knife grinders, scissor sharpeners, and onion sellers who rode around the country selling their services: some of us can remember them well. Nick wondered if you could do the same riding a bike and printing as you go, and following a round-Britain ride meeting craftsmen he decided to ride from Bristol to Mainz, the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg, printing along the way. Robin Mather built a prototype bicycle with an Adana 8x5 on the back and cases of type on the front and he agreed to go along for the ride.
Nick gave us an amusing account of the whole enterprise, from trying out the prototype made of scaffold pole, to raising the Kickstarter crowd funding, and then to planning the
route. The idea was to ride during the day, then set up camp, and in the evenings print post-cards and post them back to their supporters as they went along.
He brought with him the fi nal bicycle, built to exact specifi cations for him to ride. The Adana on the back was on a wooden platform with sides that folded down to make work surfaces on either side. The other equipment needed to print, such as ink and cards, was on the front along with the type, although some had to be left behind due to weight. He told us that as they left Bristol he had to learn how to control the wheel-wobble you get when riding a heavily laden bike. They discarded more items as they went along to reduce the load.
The route was planned to meet up with printer and designer friends who did linocut cuts for them to use on the cards. Altogether nine or ten different people designed the cards for Nick to print. He described trying to get the ink to dry in a tent overnight, and the diffi culties of printing under pressure in a campsite. He found an ingenious way of stacking the cards in a piece of French plastic binding material.
The route took them from Bristol to Frome and Poole, over to Cherbourg and then across northern France and into Germany and Mainz: a distance of about 1200 km. They had hoped for a bunting and fl ags reception with a brass band but sadly that was not to be!
It is always fun to receive a postcard and the few of us who had put money into the project all agreed that the Adana printed postcards were a real pleasure.
The talk by Nick was very entertaining; he was so unassuming and almost understated about such a clever idea, which must have been very testing at times, but he shrugged off the negatives. His positive attitude was inspirational.
I am sure that all of those in the audience would wish him well for his next planned project of riding from Lands End to John o’Groats taking his Adana out on the road again.
Lastly, he introduced us to a delightful ballad sung by George Hamilton IV written in 1957 and available to hear on YouTube. Who would have guessed there is a song about a printing press?
Win Armand Smith (10716)
. . . and that Banquet
I
t was a surprise to discover that for the sherry reception before the dinner they only had Bristol Cream. I kept mine for the pud.Simon Smallwood (10451)
A
t the pre-dinner sherry reception (surely, by now, something of an anachronism?) it appeared that just one kind of sherry was on offer, with no choice. More signifi cantly, though, there was no non-alcoholic option without recourse to the bar. The menu showed a distinct lack of imagination with ‘Spiced chicken and Bacon Timbale’ as the starter, followed by a main course of ‘Oven-roasted Chicken Breast, wrapped in streaky bacon’.Chris Green (7614)
Q
uality of food is judged by personal preferences and whilst the meals were mostly good I was disappointed with the Saturday Banquet. It started with the sherry reception giving no choice for dry or sweet preferences. There was confusion when diners thought they had a choice of menu and several chose the vegetarian options, causing the kitchen to run out. Some vegetarians then had a long wait whilst alternative meals could be found. The non-vegetarian menu had been poorly chosen with both the starter and main course being chicken and bacon. Even those whose preference is al dente vegetables may have struggled to eat those offered and the roast potatoes failed on both counts of crisp outside and fl uffy inside. The dessert I would judge as ready-made from a mass producer, rather than made by a hotel chef. One small glass of wine was served at the start of the meal with no indication that the glass would not be replenished. Had we known, we could have ensured we either kept some for the toasts, or got more from the bar. As it was, many people ended up ‘toasting’ with water.Ros Angior (4219)
And nally . . .
I
’ll remember Bristol for the empty fridge in my bedroom, which hummed, buzzed and whistled its way through the wee small hours. Although it was completely empty, the Holiday Inn people had decided that it should remain switched on, just in case I wanted to chill a couple of bottles of champagne to celebrate my bargain purchases from the BPS Bring & Buy sale. I got up at 3.00 a.m. on Saturday, determined to unplug the damn thing, but the power cord disappeared through a hole in the wall, with not a plug socket in sight. Exhausted, I eventually nodded off as dawn broke.The Bristol Convention receives a score of 8 out of 10 for me. Points have been deducted for the high price of the beer (almost £5 a pint in the hotel bar); and another is lost for that damned refrigerator, which still buzzes in my dreams, like some demented Bristol mosquito.
Bob Rchardson (9718)
T
his Convention proved to be highly successful and everyone involved with the organisation should have returned home at the end of the weekend tired but very pleased.One of the things which I particularly liked was the availability of tea and coffee all day. This must have been wonderful for the exhibitors and sellers, who cannot always manage fi xed tea break times. It also stopped the queues which always seem to happen.
Another excellent feature was not allowing the talks to clash, which meant, stamina permitting, we could attend all the talks. Everyone is reluctant to leave the Printing and Craft Show until they have been round all the stands and stalls, so perhaps the fi rst talk was a little early? All the talks I attended were very good.
Pat Swadling (10453)
W
hat a wonderful Convention we enjoyed in Bristol, in my opinion it was one of the best, if not the best in recent years. The organisation was excellent and the attention to delegates given by the Maidenhead Branch members and theirwives was faultless.
I was particularly pleased when I received a letter enclosing a cheque for £100 from the Convention team for the Stow Park Church Printing Project: this was the income from those who took part in the competitions. It was a really kind gesture and a useful one too as we have just had another young lad who came in this week wanting to know if he could learn how to print. He has never been able to obtain work and seemed particularly interested in the artistic side of printing. I believe he is being taken on as a trial so the BPS money will be well used right away.
The 2017 Convention is being held in Newport and it may be possible to arrange for a few interested members to visit the Project on the Friday afternoon. I do hope so but in the meantime, please accept my thanks to all who contributed.
Ron Prosser (9405)
A
s an organising member, and servant of Mr Bob, my opinion that it all really went rather well may not be worth much, but it certainly went much better than some of us had feared. A good deal of the credit must go to El Capitan (Mr B, that is) for his determined persuasion and occasional bullying, and to Kate Norman for arranging the services of Angie Butler who, apart from being personally charming, was also very informative and entertaining.Angie was the prime mover in what I think was probably the best single feature of the Saturday: the presence of so many young people. These contributed many innovative ideas through their work, and also learned quite a bit from some of us more mature (not to mention ancient) printers, many of whom were only too pleased to give advice, and recount anecdotes of printing in times long gone. The auction bidding was certainly enhanced by their presence, though prices were hardly tremendous.
Richard Owen (10766)
T
he Bristol Convention was the third I have attended since I joined the BPS about ten years ago (the others were in Colchester and Montrose). It’s not possible to compare one Convention to another as each one has its own strong points.This one was remarkable for the large number of stalls at the bring-and-buy on the Saturday. However, there was a wide variation in the prices being asked for similar items and some were a bit overpriced if you were trying to pick up a bargain. My particular interest is in old books but some I saw there were more expensive than their original price when new, even though they were anything but ‘collectors’ items’.
I did manage to pick up some letterpress items which were reasonably priced and was pleasantly surprised by the number and high quality of the items in the Goody Bag.
The Maidenhead Branch is to be commended on its choice of venue this year.
The hotel was a real home from home with excellent quality free coffee available all day. The breakfast was just as high quality and the meals generally were of a high standard. If you were in need of exercise you had come to the right place. The hotel was certainly spacious. One BPS colleague I was talking to said he had fi tted himself with some sort of pedometer and he had clocked up a distance of just over fi ve and
a half miles of walking during his stay there. And I thought I was eccentric!
My wife Mary accompanied me this year and after she got talking to some of the other wives there she discovered she wasn’t the only woman whose husband spent most of his time with his head in a shed, surfacing at intervals to eat, drink and think, whilst smelling of a mixture of linseed oil and paraffi n. She now realises she is not alone in being married to a possible mobile fi re risk. She obviously enjoyed the Convention at least as well as I did and is looking forward to tasting the delights of Newport next springtime . . . Croeso Y Cymru 2017.
Kevin Thorp (10244)
W
hat I love about Conventions is the way that members pick up with each other from a year ago, as if only a month has intervened. Once again, it was lovely to re-make acquaintances and the reception hall was the place to sit if you wanted to meet and greet. Happily this year at Bristol, there were many new faces trying out Convention for the fi rst time and it was a real privilege to match members with badges.Speaking honestly, I was sceptical that what had been prepared was going to happen at the right place and at the right time. To my great surprise, the lecture schedule did appear to work out and the talks were well attended; seldom were there any spare chairs. In fact, some of you told me that you stalwartly attended every talk and every meeting, which is some achievement. We owe a huge vote of thanks to our six speakers:
the quality of presentation was very high and they gave us much to contemplate and wonder at.
From my own observations, but also from what members said to me, the Print & Craft Show was a great success. It wasn’t just the high numbers of traders and visitors; the Sequoia Suite had a real buzz with plenty of print-related discussion, demonstrating and purchasing going on. We are grateful for the University input which extended the variety of printing and introduced a fresh, young vision to the event. We must think about how we can attract students into the Society. They were a great asset in the Auction, hoovering everything up at knock-down prices!
Many of you commented that you enjoyed the plush hotel surroundings and found the staff to be friendly and helpful. Thank you for that positive feedback. What brought a smile to many faces was the beverages station. Unlike similar devices in supermarket cafes, it was simple to use and delivered a decent cup of coffee. The same was generally true with the buffet selection in the restaurant. Most of us ate far too much!
Not everything was perfect. I refer, of course, to the Saturday gala banquet, which fi nished very late. What happened was that the main course tick sheets that I discussed on Friday with the evening manager weren’t put out at Saturday breakfast time as promised. The chefs tried to estimate demand but couldn’t work fast enough, and the service became embarrassingly slow.
It would be so easy to remember the 5% that went wrong and forget about the 95% of the weekend that was successful and memorable. The 2016 Convention at Bristol proved to be a magnet for members and non-members alike, and many delegates have already said, “See you in 2017!” Some of these are new members, so hopefully they have caught the “Convention bug” and will try to attend next year. I do hope so.
Bob Edwards (9527)
135 The Vine Press Checking out the Library
Discussing the Keepsakes Gwen Harper receives the Rosen Award
Angie Butler the Guest Speaker Square Dancing
W
hen I was in my early teens I was given a basic lino-cutting kit consisting of the traditional teardrop-shaped wooden handle and a number of V-cutter and U-cutter blades, together with a number of pieces of hessian-backed cork lino. The cork lino was meantto be mounted on to block board or thick plywood with Seccotine (remember that?) but I did not yet have a press at that time. I had to burnish the image through some purple carbon copy paper with a dessert spoon onto the paper to see the results of my e orts.
Frankly I was bit disappointed, because the cutters had to be
pushed into the lino to produce a raised surface image. I thought the nished prints were a little coarse and the method produced rather crude pictures. I had expected something much more re ned, like a line drawing, rather than the blocky images this method gave.
Half a dozen years later I was working as a lettering artist and stencil cutter at a silk-screen printers in Soho. The stencil material was called Pro lm, and it consisted of a layer of soft shellac on a piece of a thin tracing paper. The technique was to trace gently over the required reversed image with a ne sharp stencil knife, so that the shellac could be peeled o from the backing paper without cutting through the carrier tracing paper.
(The shellac was gently ironed on to the underside of the silk with a warm at-
iron.)
Note the di erence. Now one drew the knife across the lm towards you following the outline of the design, as one would draw with a sharp pencil or a ne-hair brush and ink. No longer did one push the knife into the job; the knife was pulled
across the surface as was a pen, a much more natural procedure.
By this time I had bought a second- hand Excelsior platen with a box of pie and some basic tools down Petticoat Lane for £2. This revived my interest on printing illustrations from lino cuts, and I decided to renew my earlier attempts with lino blocks.
A stencil knife was a rod of silver steel about 6” long and about 3/16” in diameter. One usually bought these from a serigraphy suppliers like John T Keep because it was simpler than trying to make one oneself. One end had been milled down to give a central at blade about 1/32” thick and the working tip sharpened to an angle of about 45°
which was honed by the user as and when required.
If such a stencil knife is no longer available then a #5 Swann Morton scalpel handle with a #11 blade is a good match but the steel rod knife has the advantage that it can be rotated much more readily to follow around curves.
A number of images produced using this technique are illustrated. The capital M was traced from an enlarged image found in a Typefoundry Amsterdam catalogue.
pressed on the lino. Alternatively purple indelible carbon paper did a good job too.
Once the drawing is marked on the surface of the lino the outline of the image is followed on the lino by gently scoring the surface with the cutting knife held such that a very shallow 30° cut is made into the lino. The knife must be kept sharp so that the cut line can be reformed elsewhere if you nd you have veered o the required path. On the Ra a M the initial gentle cuts crossed each other so that the strands followed through.
For narrow white areas make a second 30°
cut alongside the original cut such that a V- shaped valley is formed. If the lines are as wanted then re-cut the valley sides deeper until the valley can be icked or lifted out with the knife. For larger white
areas I used a sharpened at screwdriver blade of various widths, as required, to remove the unwanted areas, as one would form a mortise with a chisel in woodwork. This too must be kept sharp to clear out the whites without damaging the raised printing surfaces.
I would not go as far as saying that the illustrated lino cuts could not be produced using the traditional V-notch cutters, but I found this method gave much more satisfactory results.
This Ra a font was designed by Henk Krijger and issued by Amsterdam in Didot sizes in 1952. The resultant image on the lino was mounted onto block-board and measured about 5” x 3”.
The snow scene (front cover) was traced from a design by Ugo Mochi. He was born in Florence in Italy in 1889 and died in 1977 and he became famous for his silhouette designs. I originally printed this on an Adana Quarto atbed from a linocut of about 6” x 4” as a Christmas card sometime in the mid 1960s in a two- colour design, with the trees and deer in black on light card and a grey foreground, to emulate fallen snow, printed from a second linocut. The Mary & Child image is about 2½” and was used for a number of Christmas cards over the years; it is based on one of my own sketches.
In each case the required image was traced on to a piece of light tracing paper and the tracing reversed. The image was retraced on the other side with a soft 4B pencil. The image was then transferred to the surface of the lino by running a ne round-tipped knitting needle over the top of the tracing such that the 4B lines were
I
recently picked up a rare 1960 Cornerstone catalogue on eBay: 90 pages of goodies for the letterpress printer. Cornerstone? Who were they?In 1945 Henry Colman, an aircraft engineer at de Havilland, together with his colleague Jack Thomas set up a rm called Hawthorn Baker to manufacture precision printing sundries under the tradename of Cornerstone. The rm was based in Dunstable and became well known worldwide for its products (used in over 60 countries, it says in the catalogue). Henry retired in 1979 and died in 2011 aged 99. The rm was sold to Dunlop and is now listed as dissolved, having seen its last activity in 2004.
A number of items in the catalogue caught my attention and I go through them below. The motto throughout the catalogue is ‘ rst cost is last cost’, providing modern materials and tools that don’t wear out or become unreliable, and enabling the modern printer to achieve Precision Printing (their capitals).
Furniture. I suspected that Cornerstone furniture was duralumin (see below *), and that it had been anodised, and the catalogue con rms this. The furniture is made from extruded duralumin and is machined to 1 thou tolerance. It is then anodised, which gives it that matte appearance;
this means that it has a ‘bite’ to hold it to other surfaces under lock-up (other makes of alloy furniture, which were not anodised, or at least not in the same way, had to machine-roughen the surface of their furniture). Cornerstone assert that their furniture cannot corrode: generally speaking, this is true. To assert the accuracy of their furniture they measured 1000 pieces;
none were rejected, and most pieces were within half a thou.
Cornerstone furniture was made in every conceivable size between 8 and 72 ems long and 1 to 12 ems wide, with giant furniture up to 30 ems wide. Do you have the full set? Better get collecting (is there a Cornerstone furniture collectors club yet?). The catalogue lists some founts of furniture which t their furniture racks: they say that the standard rack, which I have, will take two standard founts. It’s good to have the correct listing – I think I was largely correct, making it up as I went along, but I am puzzled that it does not include 2 x 20 em pieces and few 36 em pieces. I nd the 1 em pieces especially useful but they are quite rare, probably as they were not supplied in the usual founts.
Quoins. The catalogue makes a big thing about their lightweight quoins, made of extruded anodised duralumin.
They made a number of slight modi cations to these over the years, making them with steel or alloy wedges and with and without springs holding the body parts together. Only the non- spring alloy wedge quoin is listed in this catalogue, of which IMHO is the poorest one. Constant use and little lubrication meant that the hardened steel screw would abrade the thread in much softer duralumin wedge and sooner or later the thread in the wedge would strip. Luckily they sold spare wedges, but I tend to look out for the steel wedge, springed quoins.
Quoin keys. Apparently the steel insert can be withdrawn from both the standard and narrow register keys when it is worn and reversed, giving extra life. I didn’t know that.
brass clips, and second-quality
(without brass clips). They don’t specify how second-quality cases di er from the better ones: that would be a bit of a problem. Not a good idea to say that your second-quality case was a nasty shoddy thing, from which the bottom would fall out after a week’s use, if you wanted to sell any, nor to say that it is near identical to the rst-quality ones, if you wanted to sell any of those.
*Duralumin is an alloy of aluminium with 4% copper. It was
rst manufactured in Germany and introduced in 1909. After WW1 it
found a ready use in aircraft and airships.
It has the property of increasing in strength for a number of days after heating and quenching. The alloy is more prone to corrosion than aluminium, and so it is anodised to prevent this. This process takes place by making the metal the anode in an electrolytic bath, usually of sulphuric acid, and passing a low voltage DC current through it. A nice layer of protective aluminium oxide builds up, and this can be later sealed.
This oxide surface is not impervious to strong acids and alkalis, and also has a lower coe cient of thermal expansion than the alloy. If you heat your furniture above 80°C the anodizing might crack o !
Twin-plate register quoins.
These little fellows are useful to achieve exact register for colour blocks etc.
They are inserted all-round the block (thus you need a minimum of 8), and by tightening up the quoins on one side while releasing them on the other, the block can be moved tiny amounts. The inner drum is graduated, but I never knew how much movement turning the drum by one division produced. Now I do; the catalogue says one division = 0.25pt, i.e. about 3 thou.
Case vacuum cleaner. I use an old hand-held rechargeable vacuum
cleaner to suck the crud (a technical term) from old cases, and if they still have type in them I place a ne wire mesh over the nozzle otherwise some smaller type will be sucked up as well.
Cornerstone have combined the chore of case-cleaning with that of moving type from one case to another with a handy typolift machine. The only problem I can see is that it would be a very e cient way of uniformly battering all your type, and I bet it was mightily noisy!
Cases. In 1960 Cornerstone were still only selling all-wood cases: many other rms had gone over, at least in part, to cases with plastic trays.
They sold their double cases in three grades: rst-quality with brass clips (to reinforce intersections between compartments), rst-quality without
“Quoin keys. Apparently the steel insert can
be withdrawn from both the standard and
narrow register keys when it is worn and
reversed, giving extra life. I didn’t know that.”
I
t really doesn’t feel as if I’ve been judging this award for over 15 years, but people say that if you are enjoying something, the time passes very quickly.As always, this year’s entries are
innovative and interesting. I know or have met most of the contributors, who this year are from the Essex, Lincolnshire and Shropshire branches.
My task of awarding the trophy was again in
collaboration with my colleague Ron Prosser, whose expertise in these matters is backed by over 40 years experience in the printing industry.
He also has superior knowledge in
matters such as bookbinding and print- fi nishing, and miniature book production.
Let’s deal with the entries in
alphabetical order, starting with Essex. A total of nine printers submitted 12 items with the theme of ‘Seasons’. The booklet is A5 landscape, Wire-O-bound on the left with 300 micron covers and title page by Ron Rookes in addition to his inner pages. Noticeably, all pages are guillotined accurately, especially on the fore-edge.
John Alexander’s entry of ‘Seasons’
poems by Spike Milligan is hilarious to read, and just a few small errors of the ‘off its feet’ variety (assuming it’s letterpress).
Alan Brignull has printed a mediaeval text in black within a beautiful border in dark green. If you get the chance, study the border and the accuracy of the printing.
It is exquisite. We were very impressed with Alan’s inclusion of his Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter corner pieces in his border. Chris Brinson’s piece, printed letterpress in three colours on 80gm bond, is nicely balanced, but with a bit of embossing on the black run.
Mike Elliston’s piece gives us a detailed interpretation of the word ’season’ along with the various alternatives in common
use. A beautifully printed page on 90gm bond.
Len Friend has approached the subject differently.
Who remembers the pop group The Four Seasons from the 1950s?
Five full colour pages give us a potted history of ‘then’ and ‘now’, with splendid photography and text. A lot of work went into this piece, and it has enhanced the quality of the whole book. Now for something completely different. John Garrett has printed a superb woodcut of an Aztec god with the snazzy name of ‘Xipe Totec’. It is diffi cult to describe this guy, but let us say that he has a number of interesting appendages from his head and body (don’t ask!). Printed in beautifully solid black and apart from a tiny smudge and a slightly mis-aligned trim, it is excellent.
In the past, I have been very critical about avoidable errors. In return,
members have criticised me for being too harsh with my comments. (I have to say
that I set myself very high standards when I was a commercial printer, because I could hardly expect a client to pay for my errors.) I laugh inwardly now that certain members have resorted to reprinting items where spelling and punctuation are less important, namely mediaeval texts, poetry and personal items where jargon and slang can be wielded with impunity!
Thus said, I move on to Mike Perry’s extract from a 1902 poem which, if you read it out loud, sounds right, but visually is a proof-reader’s nightmare! The same can be said about Margaret Rookes’
reprint of Edmund Spenser’s ‘Procession of the Seasons’, but fortunately she has included a comprehensive glossary of terms found in the text, together with contemporary spellings. We both liked her pencil drawings – your originals, Margaret?
Husband Ron has printed a thought- inducing piece by Robert Graves entitled 1915. Read it, if you get the chance . . . He has also printed John Keats’
poem ‘To Autumn’:
‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’, etc. Both are over his ‘Digital Pawprints’
imprint. To fi nish, Ron has listed all sixteen typefaces used in the book and the cover typography is a miracle of symmetry. All in all, this book is a very well-produced item and I hope many members will get a chance to peruse it.
Lincolnshire Branch produced an A4 Calendar for 2016. Seven members have provided the pages with the theme of
‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ printed on A5 landscape on a variety of paper and board in a range of weights. It may sound churlish, but surely uniformity of stock would have made sense. Graham Jackson has chosen 340 micron white board for day 1 and day 7. Good strong impression, but with a slightly imperfect surface on the two largest ‘2s’ (swans). Robin Clarke’s treatment of days 2 and 3 in litho on 150 micron thin board is delightful,
but I wonder if he ever got as far as day 12. His inclusion of thumbnails of the previous
‘days’ would have appeared very cramped as the days progressed!
Ian Cork has produced days 4 and 9 on 250 micron board and these are well printed apart from a slight mis-alignment of the heading text.
Saturn’s rings (fi ve of) and a dodecahedron (day 12) form the entry from John Miller. I don’t want to ruin the piece by trying to make it up. Paul Warne has created quite a chunk of the calendar with day 6 (were the geese’s clothing hand-coloured or printed? Either way, they were very good). The pear tree with one partridge looks a trifl e pixellated, so I guess it is a blow-up from a much smaller original. He has also printed an
A4 page on translucent plastic with each day’s fi rst line. This is particularly well done. Another large chunk of the content was printed by Mike Edwards. Days 10 and 11 were done digitally (I guess), and his imprint in about 2 point type was as clear as a bell! He also did the synopses of the monthly dates in two separate sheets.
That covers it, except to say that the cover was expertly litho printed on 300 micron Ivorex board by Charles Hull. He also did day 8 letterpress on 170 micron board on an Albion and on a Thompson.
But do you see what I mean about
uniformity of stock?
Finally, Shropshire Branch went away from the usual offering this year. Much to my surprise and pleasure, what appeared to be a pack of cards fell out of the jiffy bag. The branch has made a game of Pelmanism from Pub Signs.
Eight members have contributed to the whole, including the box and the instructions. The cards, 105 x 75mm, 220 micron white board are all similarly printed on the reverse with the branch name and a Shropshire logo. There are 25 pairs of pub signs printed on the front by various means, some in digital colour, some letterpress, some litho. Some of the artwork is simple block, some is linework and there is a fair bit of clip- art. The artwork on the front of the box
was quite delightful. Naturally, all cards are cut to the same size, but my main disappointment was the box in which all were contained. It was constructed from the same card as the playing cards, namely 220 micron board. I found that the box, instead of being well-fi lled, had too much space inside. Take a look at a pack of ordinary playing cards, 52 in number, plus two jokers and sometimes some items for playing Bridge. The cards are tight within the pack, which when closed is solid. The Shropshire was, well, fl oppy!! A suggestion to improve things:
try laminating the cards, which will stiffen and protect the faces from being soiled.
Also, make the box so that it closely fi ts the pack in each dimension. Shropshire, I look forward to seeing an improved version next year!
There we have it. Of all the entries, Ron and I came to the common decision that the entry from Essex should be awarded the Rosen trophy for 2015, and it was duly presented by President Jean Watson at the Annual Dinner, to much cheering from an enthusiastic Essex crowd.
We hope that all members will have the opportunity to see and feel the offerings during the year, just to inspire an even better selection for us to judge next year.
Diary of Events
Saturday June 11th & Sunday June 12th Amberley Print Weekend Amberly Museum & Heritage Centre, Station Road, Amberley, Near Arundel, BN18 9LT
www.amberleymuseum.co.uk Tuesday June 14th
Surrey & Sussex Branch Branch Walk in London.
Saturday June 18th & Sunday June 19th Artists’ Book Market
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.
Monday June 20th Shropshire Branch BBQ at Shrewsbury.
Wednesday June 22nd Dorset Branch
Meeting at Whitcombe Stables, Dorchester.
Saturday June 25th Essex Branch
Visit to the Hedgehog Press, Adanaland.
Saturday June 25th Book Fair & Open Day The Grange, Ellesmere, SY12 9DE.
www.thegrange.uk.com/programme/open-day.html Tuesday July 12th
Surrey & Sussex Branch Meeting at Adrian Towler’s, Shoreham-by-Sea.
Saturday July 16th Maidenhead Branch
Meeting at Paul Hatcher’s, Reading.
Monday July 18th Shropshire Branch Visit to Halesfi eld.
Wednesday July 20th Dorset Branch
Meeting at Whitcombe Stables, Dorchester.
Saturday July 23rd Essex Branch
Visit to the Haven Press, Holland-on-Sea.
Monday August 15th Shropshire Branch Visit to Mostly Flat Press.
Wednesday August 24th Dorset Branch
Meeting at Whitcombe Stables, Dorchester.
Saturday September 3rd Presstival
The Whittington Press, nr Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 4HF
Tuesday September 13th Surrey & Sussex Branch Meeting at Mark Mitchell’s, Westcott.
Wednesday September 21st Dorset Branch
Meeting at Whitcombe Stables, Dorchester.
Monday October 3rd Maidenhead Branch
AGM at Dorothy Sydenham’s, Thame.
Tuesday October 11th Surrey & Sussex Branch Meeting at Peter Scarratt’s, Crawley.
October 11th to 13th The Print Show NEC, Birmingham
http://www.theprintshow.co.uk/
Saturday October 22nd Essex Branch Roadshow Thaxted Church Craft Fair, Thaxted.
Branch meetings are open to all Society members. Anyone who plans to attend a meeting who is not a member of the Branch concerned should check with the Branch Secretary in case details have changed.
Win Armand Smith
01258 830628 dorset@bpsnet.org.uk
Essex
Gwen Harper
01268 776663 essex@bpsnet.org.uk
Lincolnshire & District Michael Edwards
01733 562867 lincoln@bpsnet.org.uk
London
Matt McKenzie
07836 785505 london@bpsnet.org.uk
Maidenhead Paul Hatcher
01189 666124
maidenhead@bpsnet.org.uk
Overseas Kevin Thorp
00 353 1 8438346 overseas@bpsnet.org.uk
Scotland John Easson
01828 628001
scotland@bpsnet.org.uk
Shropshire Peter Criddle
01743 350208
shropshire15@bpsnet.org.uk
South Wales Dominic Hartley
07970 722029 swales@bpsnet.org.uk
Surrey & Sussex Libby Green
01737 644145 surrey@bpsnet.org.uk
NEW MEMBERS:
10813 Mr Jeremy Markham Sunnymead, Woodmancott, Winchester, SO21 3BL 10814 Dr Tori McLean
21 Quarry Road, Winchester, SO23 0JF tori.mclean@btinternet.com
10815 Ms Cathey Webb
35 Sherbourne Street, St George, Bristol,BS5 8EQ
cathey.webb@gmail.com 10816 Mrs Angie Butler
18 Sherbourne Street, St George, Bristol, BS5 8EH
angiebutleruk@hotmail.com 10817 Mrs Margaret Hutchings 52 Hillcrest, Ellesmere, SY12 0LJ MHutchi372@aol.com
10818 Mr Phillip Mannion
13 Munday Court, Binfi eld, Bracknell, RG42 4UG
phillip_mannion@hotmail.com 10819 Miss Sarah Bodman
Centre for Fine Print Research, UWE Bristol, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol, BS3 2JT Sarah.Bodman@uwe.ac.uk
CHANGE OF ADDRESS:
6409 Mr Colin Payne
5 Orchard Close, Elm, Wisbech, PE14 0BU 10211 Mr Alan Kelly
5 Edward Harvey Court,
76 Woolwich Road, Belvedere, DA17 5DX
CHANGE OF EMAIL ADDRESS:
10663 Mrs Rachel Marsh semplepress@gmail.com
DONATIONS:
6409 Mr Colin Payne 6838 Mrs Dorothy Sydenham 10244 Mr Kevin Thorp
Dorset Branch
April Meeting
W
e all joined in wishing George Webb a speedy recovery and we look forward to seeing him soon, hopefully at our next meeting.Those who attended the convention in Bristol gave a report on the event, all favourable.
We agreed that it had been very successful, there had been interesting talks and the sale and auction had all proved worthwhile for our members. The venue was comfortable with plenty of space and we appreciated access to tea and coffee all day. We all joined in thanking Maidenhead Branch for an excellent weekend.
At our previous meeting we had agreed that if no one else volunteered then the Dorset Branch would offer to host the 2018 Convention. Win AS gave all present the chance to offer and then suggested Dorset as agreed.
We had a lengthy discussion on possible venues: Pat and Margaret had been to look at one, and Jean and Ron at another. Subject to further discussion we hope to decide fairly soon so that we do not have to spend the next two years thinking about it! We also had an early discussion on speakers, visits, etc.
Ron told us that the two rooms of printing effects in the stables are almost cleared except for one or two bigger machines, one of which has reverted to Japanese instructions. We are looking for a Japanese speaker to help us out.
At 4.15 we stopped to watch the 4.30 at Ascot: Moheet was running, and his brother Harbour Law is trained at Whitcombe. Sadly he fi nished last but Harbour Law fi nished fi rst in Salisbury on 1 May. This is just an aside to our meeting. Whitcombe is now on the market so we wait to hear our future at the stables.
Win Armand Smith (10716)
Branch Report
BPS SHOP
Support your Society and purchase from an increasing selection of items available at a
very reasonable cost
Polo Shirts in Black with Gold Logo
(Small, Medium, Large, X Large or XX Large)
£15 plus £3 UK carriage
Printers Aprons in Black with Gold Logo
£ 14 plus £3 UK carriage
Cuffl inks
£3.50 per pair plus £1 UK carriageBadges
£1 eachplus 75p UK carriage Send order or inquiry to your
Sales Secretary (Contact details on inner front cover of this issue of Small Printer)
Do you have ideas for further items that might be of interest in order to advertise and generate membership of your Branch?
Umbrellas, Caps,Sweatshirts, Mugs, Mousemats?
Ask and Terry will investigate availability/cost
I B R
I ST
H P R I N T I N G S O
C I E
T Y
sshhh!!!
we could be your best kept secret...
Our unique online ordering system gives you instant quotes, and puts you in total control of your trade ncr outsourcing.
We print directly from the reel and pass the savings on to you. In many cases we can print and deliver for less than the cost of the sheetfed raw materials.
Register now
To access instant trade only prices
The quickest and easiest
TRADE ONLY
online ordering system for NCR sets, books and pads www.print4printers.co.uk
print for printers
P
4P
Print4Printers Unit F Salcombe Court Meadow Lane Industrial Estate Alfreton DE55 7EG Tel: 01773 743621
Email: info@print4printers.co.uk
OUTSOURCE TO P4P O O O
YOUR PROFIT PAPER
YOUR PROFIT REPRO CARRIAGE
LABOUR
print printers
P4P
for
Produce In-House Outsource to Print4Printers
PRINTED, FINISHED &
DELIVERED IN 5-7 DAYS
BPS Member No. 10735
£20 off your first order
Just select BPS SMALL PRINTER when registering
FOR SALE
Printing equipment belonging to a former BPS member, Robert Atkins (7184), who died on 13 November 2015.
One Vicobold in good condition, valued between £1000 and £2000.
Inside chase measurement 22.5 cm x 33.5 cm.
One IDEAL 3915/95 guillotine. 42” high x 24” wide x 33 deep.
One Rapid Electric Stapler, A101.
Also, various quantities of coloured cards.
Buyer collects from Hornchurch, Essex.
Contact Mrs. Atkins on 01708 453918
Copies of the Publishing Group’s PG Annual/Small Printing for the years 2011 to 2014 are available from the BPS website for £7.50 each including UK postage. http://www.bpsnet.org.uk/
PGSmallPrinting/index.html
Missing a copy of Small Printer? Back copies are available for years 2009 to 2015 from the BPS website. http://www.
bpsnet.org.uk/smallprinter/index.html
WANTED
Letterpress Machines and Type
Anything considered please contact
printerbits@googlemail.com
01474 748 532
Small Printer Advertising Rates
/LQHDGYHUWV WH[WRQO\ SHUPRQWK0HPEHUV2QO\ Free (up to 50 words) then 10p per word Display advertisements 1/4 page per month £7.00
Display advertisements 1/2 page per month £15.00 Display advertisements Full page per month £25.00
Advertisement as a Printed Insert (A5) £25.00
Advertisement as a Printed Insert (A4 folded to A5) £30.00
The Editor and Advertising Manager reserve the right to refuse any advertisement Although every e ort will be made to publish an advertisement in a speci ed issue if requested, this cannot be guaranteed The same display advertisement appearing in four or more consecutive issues is subject to a 10%
discount and when in seven or more consecutive issues subject to a 15% discount.
Cheques payable to “British Printing Society” and material should be sent as follows or contact the Advertising Manager if you wish to pay by PayPal
Line Advertisments should be sent to the Editor by the 10th of the month prior to publication.
Display Advertisments should be sent with payment to the Advertising Manager also by the 10th.
Printed inserts (350) must be sent with payment to the Mailer so as to arrive by the 25th of the month.
Letterpress Garage Sale
of the late BPS member Geoff Kennet Type (Founders & Montype, over 200 founts) cases, cabinets, leads, furniture, randoms, sticks, blocks, etc.
A Vicobold & Adana press Hand Lever Guillotine
Ludlow.
NOTE: All items only available on day of sale, fi rst come, fi rst served. Cash only, or cheques for large items to be
collected by arrangement.
SATURDAY 11th JUNE 2016.
10.00AM SHARP.
74 Layer Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 7JN
Why would you go anywhere else?
Re-manufactured Adana machines including treadle platens and proof presses - Composing sticks, typescales, galleys, furniture, quoins, quoin keys, planers, tweezers, bodkins - New & second-hand type laid in cases and/or wooden cabinets, @ signs, # signs, + signs, borders, dashes, rules and spacing materials. High definition Rubber inking Rollers, a full colour range of letterpress inks, tympan manila platen dressing sheets and gauge pins. We also service and refurbish customer’s own machines.
www.caslon.co.uk +44 1727 852 211
Our AdanaLite Photopolymer system enables you to easily make negatives and letterpress plates at home. We supply a range of polymer plates at competitive prices and make mounting bases to order to suit your machine and thickness of plates you wish to use. Professional, Reliable & Expert advice always available.
J
Moulton Printing 01253 342992 www.moultonprinting.com
